Ever wonder why paint peels off the wall during summer's high humidity? It's the same reason that bandages separate from skin when we bathe or swim.
Interfacial water, as it's known, forms a slippery and non-adhesive layer between the glue and the surface to which it is meant to stick, interfering with the formation of adhesive bonds between the two.
Overcoming the effects of interfacial water is one of the challenges facing developers of commercial adhesives.
To find a solution, researchers at The University of Akron (UA) are looking to one of the strongest materials found in nature: spider silk.
The sticky glue that coats the silk threads of spider webs is a hydrogel, meaning it is full of water. One would think, then, that spiders would have difficulty catching prey, especially in humid conditions -- but they do not. In fact, their sticky glue, which has been a subject of intensive research for years, is one of the most effective biological glues in all of nature.
So how is spider glue able to stick in highly humid conditions?
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